


Ready to Comply

by SophieRomanoff97



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Awesome Sharon Carter (Marvel), BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF Sharon Carter (Marvel), BAMF Tony Stark, Blood, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Brainwashing, Bucky Barnes & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes's Trigger Words, Canon Divergence - Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Canon-Typical Violence, Civil War (Marvel), Conditioning, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Head Injury, Hurt Natasha Romanov, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt sharon carter, I do torture them, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mind Control, My poor babies, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Past Brainwashing, Red Room (Marvel), Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony-centric, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2019-08-09 03:19:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16442003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieRomanoff97/pseuds/SophieRomanoff97
Summary: Civil War divergence fic.What would happen if Bucky wasn't the only one to get triggered by the words? What if Natasha did too? Come find out.Pretty Tony-centric as he comes to realize he had Bucky all wrong.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I've had this idea down for ages and have finally decided to write it. This will likely be a two part fic and yeah I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Tw for blood and violence in this chapter.
> 
> Translations: 
> 
> The trigger words in order:  
> zhelaniye, rzhavyy, semnadtsat, rassvet, pech', devyat', dobrokachestvennyy, vozvrashcheniye na rodinu, odin, gruzovoy vagon  
> Longing, rusted, seventeen, daybreak, furnace, nine, benign, homecoming, one, freight car
> 
> Kakoy prekrasnyy syurpriz: what a wonderful surprise
> 
> Soldat: soldier
> 
> gotovy soblyudat': Ready to comply 
> 
>  
> 
> Let me know how you liked it?❤

Natasha was with Tony when everything went horribly, horrendously, nightmarishly wrong.

The lights cut out and alarms sounded around the room.

Ross was shouting to agents and anybody close to get eyes on Bucky but that was Natasha's last concern only a few seconds later.

Tony, followed by Sharon, fled the room but Natasha stayed.

The 'psychiatrists' voice cut smoothly through the alarms, coming from the one speaker that seemed untarnished by the power outage.

"Natalia Alianovna Romanova. Kakoy prekrasnyy syurpriz."

The redheads jaw locked and her eyes stared dead ahead as the voice washed over her.

She couldn't stop listening. Couldn't move from her spot. Could scarcely breathe.

"Zhelaniye-"

The worst pain imaginable hit Natasha like a truck and her hands slid up to roughly grab at her hair as if that would stop the agony inside her head.

She could hear Bucky pleading brokenly in the background. 

"Rzhavyy-" 

"No!" Natasha growled, fire in her veins as she pulled harder on the hair in her grip.

Images, distorted and watery flooded her vision as she swallowed back bile and anger.

"Semnadtsat-"

"NO!" The woman roared, slamming a fist down into the table in front of her, breaths fast and ragged.

She didn't remember ever hearing those words in the order they were being said.

She didn't remember but she knew she'd heard them before.

"Rassvet-"

She couldn't move her feet to escape the sound of the man's voice, to escape the words that her body recognised but her mind refused to remember.

"Pech'-" 

With each passing word, each passing second Natasha felt her very being melt away and something that had been locked away rose to the surface.

"Devyat'-" 

She no longer wanted to move.

Blank green eyes stared at nothing as her body tightened and coiled, ready.

"Dobrokachestvennyy-"

The pain dispersed, leaving only white hot emotions in its wake.

No terror, not this time.

Anger.

"Vozvrashcheniye na rodinu-"

Natasha straightened, not registering that Bucky had stopped shouting too. 

Two obedient puppets. Waiting.

"Odin-"

Ram-rod straight, eyes narrowing.

"Gruzovoy vagon."

A soft chuckle then, "soldat?"

Natasha's voice could cut through glass as she pressed down on the intercom button.

"Gotovy soblyudat'."

...

All hell was breaking loose as Tony and Sharon found themselves in the midst of fighting off not one murderous assassin but two.

Steve, Sam and T'Challa were occupied with a brainwashed Bucky and the fleeing not psychiatrist down in holding so it was down to the other two to deal with Natasha.

Tony had known Natasha longer than he'd known any of the other Avengers and as such, should have had the best idea how to proceed but he...had no clue. 

Sharon barely knew her so she was far less hesitant to injure in in her attempts to stop her killing them.

And Natasha was more than equipped to kill them then and there.

She was unarmed but that didn't make her any less deadly.

Tony fired his repulsor and the woman didn't so much as blink before she was advancing on him.

She had the weight of a small truck behind every hit and it was getting clearer by the second that this would not end well.

Natasha was deadly.

The Black Widow soldier Natasha was even worse.

Years upon years of training and honing every little aspect of her fighting method, paired with the fact all she saw were things to put down, didn't bode well for survival.

She threw Tony into the wall and moved towards his crumpled figure, a soft growl tearing itself from her lips.

Arms stopped her, wrapping around her neck and dragging her back.

In a second, Natasha had flipped the blonde woman easily, hands closing over her throat and squeezing with all the power she possessed.

The blonde bucked up under her and gasped, face flushed as breaths grated in her throat in her growing need for air.

Another blast barely touched Natasha but it did make her loosen her grip for just a second. 

Sharon took the split second distraction to catch Natasha on the side of her jaw with a fist.

The redhead reeled back before her neck snapped to the side, her eyes all black pupil as she got to her feet and came towards Sharon again.

Tony wished with everything in him that Clint was there. 

Surely he would know what to do. 

But he wasn't there and so the billionaire got up, pain almost overwhelming and blood dripping down his jaw and neck, and moved to help Sharon.

Natasha showed no signs of weariness or succumbing to the injuries she'd gotten so far, she just kept coming.

...

Tony wasn't sure how much time had passed.

Probably not a lot of time but his awareness was slipping with every hit and blow to his head.

Natasha had ripped the gauntlet from his hand so now Tony was left to fight hand to hand and whilst he wasn't bad at it, he was nowhere near as good at it as the angry redhead.

Sharon had gone down in growing pool of blood and hadn't gotten back up and as Tony pushed himself backwards towards the wall, he knew he was heading that way too.

"Natasha-" he grit out around a mouthful of blood. "Don't do this."

Natasha's fist came raining down and Tony saw nothing.

...

Natasha took a step back, eyes surveying the damage with an unflinching gaze.

Her mind had long since stopped screaming at her but as she crouched to examine her work, pain clawed up the back of her neck.

It spread throughout the back of her skull and settled behind her eyes.

Fingers that had reached towards Sharon faltered and clenched into a fist.

Words whispered right at the back of her consciousness as she stood from her crouched position, leaving the woman on the floor.

The whole fight must have lasted only five minutes and as she stumbled towards the exit, agents were finally swarming.

Her mind had started screaming once more and coupled with the pain, had pushed the trigger words just enough to the side that Natasha could lift her gaze to the agents.

She had seconds before she lapsed again and there was no telling how many people she would kill.

With a ragged gasp, Natasha gritted her teeth as wild eyes fixed on the man at the front of the group.

"Kill me. Or I will kill you-" clipped words that Natasha rushed to get out in time.

A burst of light and words inside her head and Natasha's stare hardened once more.

A growl left her lips as she advanced on the group, mind blank and body ready to attack.

Two shots rang out around the building.

Natasha dropped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I feel like I'm doing something wrong at the moment because not a lot of people seem to be reading my fics but that's Okay, as long as one person enjoys it then I'll carry on. 
> 
> Anyways, welcome to part two. Pay attention to the Trigger warnings in chapter one, just in case. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

To say Tony was surprised when he woke up was an understatement. 

When Natasha had come towards him that last time, he'd thought that was it.

That he would die there on that floor, at the hands of one of his closest friends, whilst in the middle of a shitstorm 'disagreement' with half his team.

But his eyelids fluttered open and he came to to a world of hurt.

Groaning, Tony tried to push himself up as more jumbled memories came to him.

Natasha. Murderous. Sharon in a pool of blood. 

Shit, the blonde hadn't gotten back up after the last time she'd gotten thrown into the wall.

Tony blamed the pounding in his head for the fact he still hadn't moved.

He took in his surroundings, cringing at the bright lights above.

A hospital room, but small, so not a proper hospital.

Tony sat up even more, scanning the room. 

He was alone, but that wasn't a surprise. His bed was the only one in there, so he wasn't believing the worst about Sharon just yet.

He quickly pulled the wires from his skin, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

Once more, he blamed the pain in his head for his lack of thought.

Natasha.

Where was she? Had she escaped? How many more had she hurt? 

Had Steve reached Bucky in time? Did he even know about Natasha?

Tony's chest hurt as he dropped his head into his hands for a moment.

He wasn't sure if the nauseous feeling settling into his stomach was because of the head injury, or if it was the realisation. 

Bucky and Natasha had both been triggered by the words.

Natasha was his friend and even she had attacked them brutally. Of course Bucky had done the same.

It didn't mean the man hadn't set the bomb off and killed T'Challa's father, but if he had, there was now doubt there about whether the man even realised what he'd done or was just following orders.

Tony had a lot to work through when he had his answers.

He slowly stood, blinking away black spots and absently rubbing at the bandages set around the back of his head.

He took a couple of shaky steps forward, more than grateful to find that he was still in his clothes from earlier.

They were bloodied and disgusting, but at least he wasn't shuffling down the hall in one of those ridiculous gowns. Again.

Walking out into the hallway, Tony found himself in a fairly small hospital wing; six rooms maximum, and an empty desk near the exit.

Taking a deep breath, Tony tilted his head. 

His ears were still ringing but he could hear voices coming from the second room so without stopping to think, he pushed the door open.

Immediately three guns were levelled at his head and he held his hands up, raising an eyebrow. 

One person he didn't know, one person he did know but hadn't been expecting to see, and one person he hadn't been sure he'd ever see again.

"Easy, ladies. Just me." Tony muttered, walking over to the bed and easing himself down into the chair beside it.

The guns lowered.

"Glad to see you're awake." Sharon muttered, looking decidedly worse for wear.

She had bandages around her head too as well as a cast around her right arm, secured with a sling around a neck that was covered in dark bruises shaped like fingertips. Blood still stained the side of her face, along with scratch marks and more bruises curving over her cheek and disappearing into her hair.

Tony hadn't seen himself but he could feel the damage to his head and face, but at least he hadn't been thrown into a wall more than once.

"Likewise. I..." the man swallowed, gaze darting around the other two women in the room.

Sharon followed his eyes. "You already know Maria." She said quietly, her voice low and scratchy. "And that's Bobbi Morse, Shield agent, good friend, and one hell of a fighter should it come to that again."

Tony smiled politely, nodding before turning his attention back to the woman he'd only met recently but had fought for his life with. 

"When you went down-" Tony flinched, tiredly rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought..."

"Yeah, me too." The blonde shrugged then hissed softly when it jolted her arm.

Tony couldn't hold in the need for answers to his questions any more.

"And Natasha," he asked, voice cracking a little, "what happened?"

Maria met his gaze, the only other in the room who knew just how important the redhead was to him.

All the women worked for Shield, or had done rather, so they'd likely come into contact with Natasha but Maria and her and Tony and her weren't just acquaintances, they were friends.

"She's here." Maria carefully unfolded herself from the foot of the bed, choosing to pace the small width of the room.

"The ground team got there quick but by the time they had, you and Agent Carter were already out. I was listening over the comms when Natasha spoke. It was...like she'd broken out of it for a moment. She told the team to...to kill her before she killed them." The woman shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

"Then she...growled. Like an animal and...I knew she would kill them. I've heard that noise before and it never...it never bodes well. I ordered one of my men to tranq her but she was already coming towards them so...one of the agents decided to fire his gun, not that I blame him, he was trying to stop her."

Tony's knuckles turned white as he sat forward in his seat, eyes widening. "She...she's?"

"No, No, she's alive. She got hit with the tranq dart just after she got shot and went down. They stopped the bleeding and got the bullet out. She's in one of the cells right now."

Tony sank back, exhaling shakily. "Okay." He nodded. "So what exactly happens next? Where are Rogers and Barnes?"

"MIA. We haven't been able to get in contact, both of them and Sam Wilson have gone off grid." Maria shrugged, looking wary as she pushed her black hair into a tighter ponytail.

"There's not much else to be done, other than resting and trying to get in contact via those secret channels I know you have." The woman sighed.

"Yeah, don't think Cap is taking my calls right now." Tony muttered, tone bitter.

"Maybe not. But isn't it worth a try? Because Barnes' clearly wasn't the only one affected. They still deserve to know. Maybe we can all figure something out."

Tony grit his teeth against the roll of anger washing over him.

He breathed through it and clenched his jaw. "Yeah, fine." He muttered.

Steve had royally pissed him off, but more than that, what had happened really fucking hurt.

But, his rational mind supplied, the accords didn't matter so much right then.

Natasha did.

And maybe Barnes' hadn't been in control for most of their interactions.

So, for Natasha, and also a little for himself, he backed up towards the door. "I'll try to reach him."

Sharon had watched Maria and Tony silently, but finally spoke. "Thank you." The blonde said quietly, clearly worried about Steve.

"Yeah." Tony shrugged, wincing and turning his gaze back to Maria. "Has someone contacted Clint? He needs to be here."

Maria hesitated before shaking her head. "Not yet. I'll get on it."

Tony nodded once more before pushing open the door and stalking down the hallway.

First, he had to find a phone and some painkillers.

And then he had one hell of a call to make.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter. I'm afraid this fic might end up a little anti-climactic but I hope you so like it nonetheless. Enjoy!
> 
> Also please bear in mind that I'm team everyone being friends lmao, there is no vilifying either side, just understandable hurt emotions from everyone involved.
> 
> Also also the new relationship tags are basically hinted at relationships, nothing we'll go into detail about and the comments I make can be taken in either a friendship or relationship way so do with that as you please.

Tony made a list of things he had to do, not because he liked lists or even used them but because a little voice in the back of his head (that sounded suspiciously like Bruce) told him that he wasn't at all with it and that he'd miss something if he didn't plan it.

Getting a phone was easy enough; he swiped one from behind the empty desk, promising himself that he'd drop it back off later.

He opened up the little notepad app as he sat in the little hallway, typing away.

Tony's fun fucked up list of stuff to do:

*painkillers  
*try Steve's phone  
*If that doesn't work, try old channels  
*If that still doesn't work, time to suck it up and leave a voicemail (try not to ramble)  
*Get Friday to open up all access channels in case anyone tries to get into contact  
*Offer a jet to Clint  
*Figure out what the fuck to say to the government  
*Get some clothes from somewhere  
*go see Natasha???

Sighing, Tony slid the phone into his pocket. He knew he wouldn't stick to the order, but he did have to admit that having it all written down would help. Now it would just be better if Bruce was actually there, but that obviously wasn't going to happen.

Okay, so painkillers.

Also surprisingly easy to access; the spies and ex-soldier in the tower had taught him a fair few things, lock picking included. 

He swiped a bottle of aspirin, taking a couple tablets dry before moving onto his next task.

His head was still too scrambled with pain to even entertain having the difficult conversation with Steve just yet, so he decided to try and find some clothes so he at least didn't look completely like a hospital patient.

Things were going well, too well, Tony told himself as he headed towards the first changing room he came across.

Inside the room, he found a cupboard with spare CIA issued shirts and pants and in a matter of minutes, that task was completed too.

Sure that Maria would have talked to Clint by now, he had Friday call him and offer him one of the private jets, already on it's way to him irregardless of his answer. Natasha needed him, retired or not.

Slinking through the halls, Tony very quickly realised that he couldn't put it off anymore.

With each minute, they could be getting further away.

Time to swallow his pride.

He sank down onto a nearby bench, rubbing at his temples for a good minute before he took out the phone and dialed the number he knew by heart.

He hadn't been an expecting an answer but the 'phone disconnected' message smarted just a little.

Tony tapped away at the phone until he'd logged into his accounts.

With a growing pain in his chest, he sent out the SOS signal across all of the old channels The Avengers had used to communicate with, some Shield channels included.

He didn't want to think about what it would mean for Steve to not answer.

And then, he opened up the main channel Steve had used during missions, when he'd been their leader, to gather the group.

Tony wasn't one to get anxious about phone calls, Bruce had been the guy for that, but he was pretty terrified of this one.

"Steve...It's Tony. I need...We need you to come in. It's Natasha. She was...triggered by the words too, she attacked and nearly killed two people." He left out the fact that one of those people was him. "So now I understand, okay, I do. Because if Natasha can attempt to kill those close to her under that influence, I can see now why Barnes would try to kill too. Nat's...she's in a cell right now. They had to shoot her to get her to stop. She should be okay. Physically. But...if you bring Barnes back, I promise we will figure it out. We will get that stuff out of both of their heads. The Accords don't matter, the government doesn't matter. Not right now. So please, come back. We can sort this out."

Exhaling, Tony slid forward to rest his head in his hands, shuddering as he pulled in a shaky breath.

Having a damned panic attack right now would be the icing on top of a very very shitty cake.

A hand settling on his shoulder startled him so much that he flew out of his seat.

"Shit, Tony, I'm sorry-" Maria took a step back, holding her hands up. "I tried to get your attention a couple of times."

Tony dragged a trembling hand through his hair, pausing when his fingers came to the top of the bandages. He dropped his hand.

"It's fine. I'm just...on edge, I guess." He muttered.

"Of course you are." Maria said softly, voice kind.

She'd been working at Stark Tower part time, helping to rebuild Shield the other half of the time.

They'd grown quite close and had shared more than a couple of beers over the months.

She was a friend. A good friend. And Tony didn't have many of them left, and hardly any of them were there.

Rhodey was off doing something for the military, Steve wasn't taking his calls, Bruce had disappeared, Clint was across the country, Thor was in Asgard and Natasha was...not Natasha.

"I left a message," Tony sighed, "and sent out a SOS on all other channels but...we'll have to see if he responds." Shrugging, he couldn't even summon the willpower to pretend he wasn't hurt.

They'd been his team. His friends. It had first been the six of them. Sometimes, he missed that.

He wasn't sure who was right about The Accords anymore. He wasn't sure he cared much either way at that moment in time.

"He'll come through, Tony. He always does." Maria said carefully. 

"Not with Barnes on the line." He shook his head, wanting to believe her.

"Even with Barnes on the line. Natasha is important to him too, and now he knows that even if Barnes did set off the bomb, we know it wasn't really him. He'll be here." Maria's voice was firmer this time and she squeezed his shoulder.

"Yeah," Tony sighed again, wanting nothing more than to sink into the chair and nap, "but in the mean time-" his voice trailed off.

"You want to go see her?" Maria suggested.

Grateful that he at least had Maria there, Tony nodded. "Yeah. I think I need to."

...

Maria flashed her Shield and compound access badges and got them down to the cells, despite Ross' insistence that Tony wasn't allowed down there.

In the end, Ross agreed to five minutes as long as a member of his team was in earshot, though he definitely wasn't pleased to see Tony in a CIA uniform.

Agreeing for the sake of temporary peace, Tony and Maria headed towards the cell. 

They weren't permitted inside, but could see their friend through the small window.

Natasha was either asleep or still unconscious, bound by her wrists and ankles to the bed, that seemed welded to the floor.

She still had on her jeans from earlier, which soothed Tony's worry a fraction; surely the bullet wound couldn't have needed surgery or anything if she was still in her jeans and not a hospital gown.

She was also wearing a CIA issued shirt and he could see wires sneaking down from a port that disappeared into the wall behind the bed. He supposed that having the IV stand in another room stopped the person needing it from using it as a weapon.

The tube went into the crook of a pale arm, red liquid moving slowly into Natasha's body.

Tony couldn't see the wound or bandages that would be around her torso and for that, he was glad.

She looked otherwise fairly okay, though it seemed like either him or Sharon had gotten a good few hits in.

Bruises left a trail down her left cheekbone and side of her neck, disappearing down under her shirt. She had a cut over her left eyebrow and another at her jaw, but her face looked a significantly lot better than his did.

"Do you know if...she'll be different when she wakes up?" Tony murmured quietly to Maria.

"From experience, she'll be back to her normal self. This time could be different but...getting knocked out used to be enough to bring her back."

Tony exhaled, "that's how she knew how to get Clint back when Loki controlled him?"

Maria nodded, "she hoped so, thank heavens it worked. It should work for her."

"Now we have to figure out how to get that out of her head." Tony murmured, being quiet so Ross' guy wouldn't hear them.

"I have someone who might be able to help with that."

Raising an eyebrow questioningly at her, Maria shook her head. "Later."

Understanding, Tony nodded and focused his gaze back on his slumbering friend.

"What about the restraints?" He asked quietly. None of the team did well with them, but he recalled that Natasha was especially traumatised when they were used outside of missions.

"As soon as she wakes up, and we know which Natasha she is, they'll come straight off. She...gave us permission a long time ago to use them if she ever drifted again. She knows how dangerous she can get." Maria said softly.

 

"We have to fix this, Maria." The man murmured.

"We will." She nodded.

She sounded far surer than Tony thought he would ever be.

He hoped she was right.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I hope you enjoy! I've now dragged it out so much there's probably going to be another 2 chapters after this.

Maria and Tony spent the last four minutes of their allotted time just watching Natasha sleep. Tony wanted desperately for her to wake up before they were forced to leave. She shouldn't have to wake up, restrained, in a foreign place, and alone.

But she didn't stir as the guards came to escort the pair away and Tony's chest ached at the realization she would remember and think for however long that she'd killed him and Sharon.

He hadn't realised that he'd been standing still until Maria touched his elbow. "Come on, let's go get a drink."

"Unless you're offering something harder, I doubt it's going to help." He muttered, but let her lead him to the nearest cafe.

"You underestimate the power of a good coffee." She hummed.

They found a quiet table near the back and Tony sank into a seat as Maria headed over to buy their drinks.

Checking his phone for messages, he found one from Clint and still nothing from Steve. He was sure the pain in his chest would never leave this time.

The message from Clint was short, telling Tony that he'd gotten to the air strip and would be there soon, and that by any means necessary, someone she knew had to be there for Natasha when she woke up.

He gave his word that someone would be. Maria seemed to be allowed in more places than he was, so if Tony couldn't be there, at least she could.

Two cups of coffee were placed in front of him, Maria taking a seat opposite. She didn't even have to ask to know that he hadn't gotten a response.

Nudging the coffee towards him, Maria cradled her own. "He'll come through." 

"Maybe." Tony shrugged, forcing himself to put his phone face down, so he wasn't constantly glancing for a message that probably wasn't coming. "Clint said that someone should be with Nat when she wakes up, and since I'm pretty much quarantined...I was hoping you could."

"Of course." Maria nodded, touching the back of his hand. "I'll get it sorted with Ross. It should be easier because you signed The Accords and he still thinks you'll uphold that."

She glanced over at the clock on the wall, sighing softly. She knew how long the tranqs knocked Natasha out for, and knew it wouldn't be for much longer. "I have to go. Are you going to be okay?" 

"Me? Yeah, course I am. Go, she needs you. Update me?" He wished he could stop how weak he sounded at that moment, he needed to be strong.

"You know I will." She squeezed his shoulder and walked quickly from the room.

Tony watched her retreat, wishing desperately in a way he hadn't for a long time.

Natasha had to be okay, Steve had to come through, The Accords had to work out.

Everything had to be okay, or Tony knew a lot of them would never be completely okay again.

...

Tony sat cradling the same cup of coffee for over an hour. And never in his life had he ever ignored a fresh coffee. He thought he might be sick if he even tried to drink it.

Clint sent another message when he'd landed and Happy was driving him straight to the compound.

Natasha had woken up, he'd been told half an hour after it happened because she had needed calming down. Maria explained that she'd been frantic and terrified as she remembered bits and pieces of what she'd done. She was convinced Tony and Sharon were dead and had quickly spiralled. The restraints hadn't helped.

It had taken a minute too long to get the cuffs off her and by the time Maria had gotten them unlocked, Natasha was having a full blown panic attack. 

They were waiting until she was calmer before sending him down, so she could see for herself that he was alive. He knew he wouldn't have been allowed in the room if not for Natasha's anxiety. He was going crazy waiting for the confirmation text. He wanted to be down there, wanted to sit beside his friend and reassure her, help her.

The second the text came through, another twenty minutes later, he was pushing back his chair and all but running down to the holding cells.

He flashed his trademark snarky smile at the guards, who checked their phones for confirmation, making Tony wait another two long minutes. 

Finally they let him in, forcing Tony through a little slither of space before closing the door right behind him.

He walked in to find Natasha with her head in Maria's lap, her face white and pinched with tear tracks down his cheeks. She was shaking lightly, her knees as close to her chest as they could go, her arms locked around them. She didn't seem to notice him.

Breaths catching in his throat, he moved, his stomach threatening to revolt. "Natasha," he said softly, carefully crouching in front of her. He noticed that Maria was petting her hair.

Green eyes flitted up from their position on the wall, widening as they settled on him.

"Tony-" she breathed, slowly pushing herself up from Maria, sliding her legs and planting her feet on the floor.

"Hi, Tash." He said softly, reaching to take a hand in his, thumb brushing over the back of it.

Natasha's fingers tightened in his as she stood, shaky. She watched Tony for a couple of seconds before wrapping her arms around him, pulling him close.

Tony breathed a little easier, more than happy to hold Natasha back. The hug was tight and painful but he wouldn't have it any other way. 

He could feel the bandages through the back of the shirt and he realized, startled, that she'd been shot and shouldn't be standing.

Pulling back, he gently guided her back to the bed. She still looked far too pale and her eyes had a glazed tinge to them. 

Maria noted his look and said quietly, "she pulled the IV out, they're sending a doctor to put another one in."

"I'm fine." Natasha insisted, shaking her head, her eyes hadn't left Tony's face.

The man took up the remaining space on the bed. "I'm okay, Nat." He said softly. "Just a couple of bruises."

Light fingers brushed over his cheek before pulling away as if his skin had burned.

"I'm so so sorry, Tony." Natasha breathed, voice wavering.

"It wasn't you," Tony said immediately, "you wouldn't have done this, okay? It wasn't you." 

Natasha stood again, like she couldn't bear to stay sitting. She began to pace the small confines of the room.

"Natasha," Maria warned quietly, "take it easy."

The redhead waved a dismissive hand and continued stalking around.

"Sharon and I are going to be fine, Tash. No one was seriously hurt, everyone is going to be okay." Tony watched anxiously as she walked. He knew that walk; the frantic, frenzied walk of someone in a lot of pain.

"I nearly killed you. I wanted to kill you." She shook her head. "I'm dangerous, I'm a murderer, I deserve everything they want to do to me."

Tony tried a different approach, "does Bucky deserve that?"

Natasha stilled in her pacing for just a moment before starting up again. She didn't answer him.

"Because the same thing happened with him, he attacked Steve and Sam. Does he deserve to be persecuted for this?"

She still didn't answer him and he saw, alarm shooting through him, red blooming across the front of the shirt. The next second, Natasha stumbled down onto her hands and knees.

Maria and Tony were up in no time, crouching and carrying her between them to the bed. They got her laying down, Maria taking the pulse at her wrist as Tony stepped to the door and rapped a couple of times. 

The door slid open and Mister Stark, not Tony, ordered them to send the doctor down. "Now." He spat before slamming the door in their faces.

He knelt beside Natasha, him and Maria exchanging a worried glance. The redhead was shivering violently, her eyes glassy and focused on nothing in particular. Maria was carefully pressing against her torso, her fingers wet with blood.

Less than a minute later, the door clicked open and a doctor came in, carrying a bag. There wasn't an awful lot of room so Tony reluctantly stood. 

"Maria, don't leave her," He said quietly, "I'll be back." He stepped through the door, every fibre of his being hurting to leave her behind.

Out in the hallway, Tony leaned back against the wall, taking a couple of deep breaths.

A figure flashed in the corner of his vision, ducking into a nearby room. Frowning, Tony pushed himself from the wall and followed the figure into the room.

He just knew.

He shut the door behind him, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"We need to talk, Steve."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys its been a while. I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with this chapter and there's a possibility I might go back and change or add things. But I owed you all a chapter!

"Well that's why I'm here, Tony." Steve said, voice carefully managed, arms folded over his chest.

"Yeah well," Tony sighed, rubbing a hand over his aching forehead, "I'm going to apologise now so maybe just let me talk." 

Steve hummed, nodding as he leaned back against the wall.

"Right." Tony exhaled, "I know you got my message or you wouldn't be here but hey, I guess I'm doing this again. I'm sorry, Steve, okay? I was wrong. I'm sorry for what I believed about Barnes and I'm sorry for how this whole thing turned out. Natasha...really wanted to keep us together." Tony shook his head, clearing his throat and casting his gaze up to the ceiling to take a moment. "And I guess, despite how we got here, you came, and Natasha still managed to bring us back together."

Steve finally spoke. "How is she?" His voice was gruff and Tony could see that his arms were crossed because his hands were shaking. He was also closely examining Tony's face, and more importantly, his injuries. "Nearly killed two people, huh?"

Tony shrugged, gesturing vaguely at his bruised up face. "Yeah, I might have been one of them. The other was your girl buddy. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd be here if Carter hadn't...Nat was..." 

"Yeah, it's rough to see someone you care about like that." Steve murmured and for the first time since everything began to fall down, there was no bite to the blonde's voice. 

"It was." Tony agreed, closing his eyes for a moment as he recalled the coil of Natasha's body, the animal eyes, the noises she made as she attacked her friends. "She's struggling. A lot. And it...it's not even the fact she got _shot_ , she doesn't even seem to care about that."

"It's the mental side, yeah? The stuff that comes after. When they wake up, scared, lost, afraid of themselves, after doing the unthinkable." Steve offered a weak smile. "I get it. Nat hasn't been that way for a long time. She hurt you, and that's going to leave a mark."

"You've been here before...does it get better?" Tony asked.

"I'll tell you when I find out." Steve hummed, chuckling dryly. 

"Well for once there's something Cap doesn't know." Tony smiled wryly, taking a step forward, holding out his hand.

Steve hummed and offered his own.

As they shook hands, both men couldn't help but believe that together they were stronger than they were torn apart.

Tony wrinkled his nose as he pulled his hand back. "You smell like a drowned rat."

Steve barked out a laugh. "Long story."

"I've got time." Tony said quietly, finally smiling.

...

_Two months later_

Steve and Tony stepped off the plane together, Clint already racing ahead, eager to see his best friend.

T'Challa, Shuri, Natasha and Bucky stood waiting at the doors and Tony was amused but warmed to see Steve seriously speed up his pace to reach Bucky just that bit faster.

As Clint wrapped his arms around Natasha, Steve did the same with Bucky.

Natasha was smiling, fingers tugging through Clint's hair as she made a joke about Laura missing a part of his hair cut.

After slowly pulling away from each other, the redhead's crooked grin turned to Tony and the man instantly relaxed. 

The past few months had been a mixture of hectic and draining for all involved. Bucky and Natasha had both gone into cryo for a month straight before Shuri found a treatment.

Then the pair had been through hell for the month that followed and through all their hard work, things were looking up. They still had a ways to go and there was no guarantee that all traces of their past brain washing was gone for good.

So Natasha and Bucky were in for the long haul. They'd be staying in Wakanda for the foreseeable future but finally they'd been allowed visitors.

As Natasha wrapped her arms around Tony's neck, the man felt like he could let out a breath for the first time in months.

"How are you feeling?" He asked quietly.

"Good." Natasha nodded, squeezing once before letting him go. "Not better, I don't know if there is a better. But good." She looked over at Clint, who smiled and reached for her hand.

"Now that we can come see you, you bet your ass we're not gonna leave you alone." The archer grinned.

Natasha rolled her eyes, but the smile remained on her face. "I wouldn't expect anything less." Directing her gaze back at Tony, she nodded her head towards the doors. "Should we go sit down?" 

Tony hummed, "you go ahead, I'm just going to let Bruce know how things are. He promised he'll be here next time."

"Things are going well?" The redhead asked, innocence on her features but eyes sparkling.

"Yes." Tony rolled his eyes, "we'll talk about it later."

"We have all the time in the world now, Stark." Natasha grinned. 

"That we do, little red." Tony winked.

Things were certainly looking up and despite everything, they were still on the same team.

_Together._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter will be the entire thing from Natasha's perspective since this accidentally turned into a Tony POV 🤷♀️

**Author's Note:**

> Subscribe maybe? ❤


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